College tours over springbreak...

[Anonymous]

old article but some may still hold true

http://college.usatoday.com/2012/08/10/how-to-avoid-college-application-fees/

[Anonymous]

you realize you can visit colleges after your kid is accepted. its cheaper and kid is feeling good and really tries to visualize themselves there

But if you want to apply early decision, you need to know your preferences. You can't do that if you haven't seen the campus.

[Anonymous]

True but honestly your DC's preferences will change all along the way as they see more schools and take the process more seriously fall of senior year And while we let our DC steer the boat, in the end our parental predictions were fairly on target. And this is of course after touring the country then going back for second looks in some cases. Somehow they end up in the right place. Probably that speaks more to kids' resiliency than all those trips If I had to do it all again, I would wait until at least second half junior year.

[mjsmith]

Anonymous wrote: If I had to do it all again, I would wait until at least second half junior year.

So DD is 17 and currently a junior. So we are at that time.

the florida schools she saw early last summer, DC schools mid summer did the g-town 3 week program last summer.
did the VA schools this past fall...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

you realize you can visit colleges after your kid is accepted. its cheaper and kid is feeling good and really tries to visualize themselves there

But if you want to apply early decision, you need to know your preferences. You can't do that if you haven't seen the campus.

Not true. If you applying VA in-state, you know where to apply. If you want aerospace engineering, you know where to apply. If you want tech, you know where to apply. If you want Econ you know where to apply. If you want Computer Sci, you know where to apply. Apply EA and SCEA and see where you get in, then tour. That's what we did. It really cuts down on the anxiety and the cost of the tours.

[Anonymous]

you realize you can visit colleges after your kid is accepted. its cheaper and kid is feeling good and really tries to visualize themselves there


But if you want to apply early decision, you need to know your preferences. You can't do that if you haven't seen the campus.


Not true. If you applying VA in-state, you know where to apply. If you want aerospace engineering, you know where to apply. If you want tech, you know where to apply. If you want Econ you know where to apply. If you want Computer Sci, you know where to apply. Apply EA and SCEA and see where you get in, then tour. That's what we did. It really cuts down on the anxiety and the cost of the tours.

Fair enough, PP, but what if your kid doesn't know what they want to study, and doesn't want to stay in-state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

you realize you can visit colleges after your kid is accepted. its cheaper and kid is feeling good and really tries to visualize themselves there

But if you want to apply early decision, you need to know your preferences. You can't do that if you haven't seen the campus.

Not true. If you applying VA in-state, you know where to apply. If you want aerospace engineering, you know where to apply. If you want tech, you know where to apply. If you want Econ you know where to apply. If you want Computer Sci, you know where to apply. Apply EA and SCEA and see where you get in, then tour. That's what we did. It really cuts down on the anxiety and the cost of the tours.

Lots of schools don't have EA options. Even in Virginia. For kids applying to selective schools ED can make a real difference in admissions (while EA makes very little difference). Silly to thrown away an ED chit if it might have made a difference at a first choice school.

[Anonymous]

I think you and your daughter need to rank these schools in some way before the touring.

I can see why you want "full information" but that jamb backed week won't teach you anything about any school.

We're visiting one high on our list over spring break. My kid is in the middle of trying to figure out how to get a tour of a lab. He'll do the general tour and the engineering tour. We have arranged to have a meal at Hillel. We spent a full half day at a small isolated liberal arts college and you know what? My kid doesn't want a small isolated school. Half a day, essentially learned about them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you and your daughter need to rank these schools in some way before the touring.

I can see why you want "full information" but that jamb backed week won't teach you anything about any school.

We're visiting one high on our list over spring break. My kid is in the middle of trying to figure out how to get a tour of a lab. He'll do the general tour and the engineering tour. We have arranged to have a meal at Hillel. We spent a full half day at a small isolated liberal arts college and you know what? My kid doesn't want a small isolated school. Half a day, essentially learned about them all.

This is funny, but there's a lot of truth in it. We visited a couple of the New England LAC's and then scratched the rest from the to-visit list; I suspect they're really all about the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you and your daughter need to rank these schools in some way before the touring.

I can see why you want "full information" but that jamb backed week won't teach you anything about any school.

We're visiting one high on our list over spring break. My kid is in the middle of trying to figure out how to get a tour of a lab. He'll do the general tour and the engineering tour. We have arranged to have a meal at Hillel. We spent a full half day at a small isolated liberal arts college and you know what? My kid doesn't want a small isolated school. Half a day, essentially learned about them all.

This is funny, but there's a lot of truth in it. We visited a couple of the New England LAC's and then scratched the rest from the to-visit list; I suspect they're really all about the same.

to add: on a hill, isolated from an otherwise sketchy town, students very similar, curricula very similar, etc.

[Anonymous]

Is your daughter going to attend any lectures? My kid has got a much better sense of different schools by doing this eg What does the student body look like? Are the classes easier or harder than her high school classes? Also find out if each school offers a special tour for the subject that interests your daughter (nursing? engineering? architecture?). The general tours can't focus on all subjects, and students in those tour group might range from foreign language to drama to comp sci students. The specialist tours give out more focused information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you and your daughter need to rank these schools in some way before the touring.

I can see why you want "full information" but that jamb backed week won't teach you anything about any school.

We're visiting one high on our list over spring break. My kid is in the middle of trying to figure out how to get a tour of a lab. He'll do the general tour and the engineering tour. We have arranged to have a meal at Hillel. We spent a full half day at a small isolated liberal arts college and you know what? My kid doesn't want a small isolated school. Half a day, essentially learned about them all.

This is funny, but there's a lot of truth in it. We visited a couple of the New England LAC's and then scratched the rest from the to-visit list; I suspect they're really all about the same.

I think that if you want a small LAC, there probably are meaningful differences between Bates, Colby and Bowdoin... just as there are differences between UW-Madison and U-Minnesota.

[mjsmith]

So OP here.

did a self guided walking tour of elon, and duke
Did guided tours at Wake, NC Chapel, Clemson

and we ended up doing only one college tour per day and ate lunch or dinner on campus or just off campus.

the kid also got some much needed highway time behind the wheel.

All in all it went well. saw some great schools. NCState made #3 on her list...

[Anonymous]

Nothing compares to a personal visit! Glad it went well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is funny, but there's a lot of truth in it. We visited a couple of the New England LAC's and then scratched the rest from the to-visit list; I suspect they're really all about the same.

I think that if you want a small LAC, there probably are meaningful differences between Bates, Colby and Bowdoin... just as there are differences between UW-Madison and U-Minnesota.

Like what? I'm genuinely curious. We are interested in several of the New England LACs but there is no way to make it to visit all of them. Of the ones we have seen (only one of which you mentioned), I haven't seen many differences. I'm just wondering whether it's worth a trip back there.